


A Day Worth Remembering

by whythefujamievenonthis



Category: Casualty - Fandom, Holby City
Genre: Gay, M/M, Wedding, mlm
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-12
Updated: 2018-09-12
Packaged: 2019-07-11 12:29:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,070
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15972344
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whythefujamievenonthis/pseuds/whythefujamievenonthis
Summary: TW: Mentions of homophobia but no slurs actually used in the fic





	A Day Worth Remembering

**Author's Note:**

> TW: Mentions of homophobia but no slurs actually used in the fic

Everything had been going perfectly: the preparation, the planning, the decor was as it should be and the food was ready to go - all that was needed now was the ceremony and two rings.

  
Dom and Lofty had been properly dating for mere months when Lofty popped the question. Dom knew he loved Lofty, however, when he first discovered Lofty’s plan it actually sent him into panic mode - was he truly ready for marriage? Where Dom had barely mustered the courage to ask Lofty if he wanted to go to Tuscany with him, Lofty was already ready to pop the question! It’d taken Dom the whole day to figure out what he wanted, and when he realised that all he wanted was Lofty, it all made sense - as if the puzzle pieces had fallen into place.  
  
  
“Lofty,” Dom began, hands one his hips, “you are so good to me. I genuinely never thought I would have _this_ .”  
  
  
“What are you saying?” Lofty asked as he took small steps towards Dom.  
  
  
The Registrar could hear the faint sound of squeals in the distance as he took to one knee in the middle of the peace garden, “Lofty?”  
  
  
Lofty followed suit, getting down one one knee and taking out the one thing Dom didn’t have - the ring box: “Dom?”  
  
  
After a few seconds of looking around (only to see Donna recording it all and his mum on the cusp of tears), Dom looked back at his boyfriend and the pair each popped the question in near unison: “Will you marry me?”  
  
  
“Yes.”  
  
  
“Absolutely.”  
  
  
The pair promptly leapt up off the floor after Lofty placed the ring on Dom’s finger, Dom could feel his heart swell with joy as he saw reflections of light bounce off the engagement ring; he could see Lofty looked just as ecstatic as he did. Dom wrapped his arms around Lofty and held him tightly after kissing him, bubbly glee rushing through him like champagne, he felt like he was walking on air. If it was a dream then he certainly didn’t mind not waking up, at least for a little while longer.

  
But of course, it was not a dream, it was reality, which made it all the better.

  
Wedding preparations were soon underway, they set a date and went about planning everything, first thing's first was the invitations. Upon being told of their engagement, Sheilagh was adamant on their invites saying:

_  
“Piglet and Dazzle are getting married!_

_Be there or be square!_

_12-12-2020”_

  
But the pair decided against it, wanting something more sophisticated - especially since it’d be the last wedding ceremony either of them would ever have. They instead decided with:

_  
“Save the date! Lofty and Dom are getting married, and you’re invited!_

_Let us know if you can make it on the 12-12-2020”_

  
Of course when Sacha found out he was absolutely thrilled. However it had taken him a whole week to realise the pair were engaged since Dom, Lofty and Essie hadn’t told him and had instead made a small bet one how long it’d take for him to notice. Dom and Sacha had been sat at the nurse’s station, simply chatting when Lofty walked over and handed Dom a patient’s file; the pair smiled at each other before the curly haired nurse walked away to get back to his duties.  
  
  
“You two should honestly just get married already.” commented Sacha as he watched Lofty walk away and Dom moon over him happily.

  
“Hmmm.” replied Dom, in a world of his own, he felt like he was constantly glowing since the proposal.

 _  
That_ was when Sacha noticed the ring, out of the corner of his eye as he went to look away, the sun probably bounced off it to make him notice. There it was, sat comfortably on Dom’s ring finger, practically begging to be noticed. Sacha stared at it for a while before the realisation hit him properly: they were already engaged.

  
“Dom! Is that what I think it is?”

  
“What what is?” asked Dom, playing dumb.

  
“No, don’t act like that, you know I’m talking about the ring! Did he _propose_?”

  
Dom paused for dramatic effect before replying, “Yeah, he did, we both did actually -  we’re engaged.”

  
“Finally! Yes, I’ve been wondering when it’d happen!”

  
“Really?”

  
“Dom, I waited for you to find someone nice, that someone wasn’t in Isaac, or in Freddie, when you found that someone in Lofty I was so happy - I knew it was a matter of time before you two fell for each other.”

  
“You think I made a good choice?”

  
“I’d be having words with you in my office if you’d said no. Do _you_ think you made the right decision?”

  
“Sacha… Saying yes was probably one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.”

  
After the proposal came the saving up process - they needed to actually have the money before they could even think about the actual wedding. And after months of saving and scraping up a budget the time came for booking the venue, the Judge to officiate, the guest list and the food menu. It was all surprisingly simple for Dom and Lofty, decisions were easy to make and they got on well despite their separate tastes. Lofty knew Dom wanted the perfect wedding so let him make the final decisions on most things (besides the venue, wedding cake, and dress code). As the days went by, the countdown to the big day got closer and closer and the two, rather than feeling nervous, were both incredibly excited despite the workload the wedding had given them. They’d both bought their suits, Dom was going to having Carole walk him down the aisle, Zosia was his best woman - all of Dom’s friends and family (even Barry) were going to be there. Lofty’s side of the guest list was a tad empty compared to that of his fiancé’s; besides Sheilagh, Robyn and Dylan and a few other friends from the E.D, Lofty had no one else going to the wedding - he’d lost contact with his parents and immediate family years before, and any friends on Keller or AAU were people Dom already had on his side of the invite list. Dom felt slightly bad that Lofty didn’t have many people there for him - but in all truth Lofty didn’t mind.

  
Eventually it was the day of the wedding, a Saturday, and the weather couldn’t have been more perfect: the sun was shining on the top of the Victorian manor house they'd rented for the venue, guests were arriving car by car, pulling up outside the building and admiring its rich and grandeur architecture. As guests arrived, caterers and chefs worked hard in the manor kitchens preparing the food for the reception that’d take place later on that day. Meanwhile, Dom and Lofty (and their respective Best Men/Women) were preparing for the big day ahead of them:

  
“Zosia! Zosia, my hair’s not cooperating with me, it looks terrible,” Dom was rushing about his room, looking for a brush and gel to sort his hair for the umpteenth time, his suit was Egyptian blue (which went well against his crisp white shirt), “What’s Lofty gonna think when-”

  
“He’s gonna think you look handsome, just like he always has. Don’t panic Dom, you look lovely.” comforted Zosia, stood there in the corner of the room, her dress was a flowy baby pink material, her hair was down and wavy, her makeup as perfect as always.

  
“What about the food and drink? Is the room for the ceremony all ready-”

  
“I spoke to staff, everything is perfect - looks like the universe is playing for your team today Doctor Copeland.”

  
“Very funny, I just, I just want everything perfect. Last time he was gonna get married he ran off…”

  
“Do you _really_ think he’s gonna run off now? Dom, I don’t know him as well as you do and even I know he’s not gonna do a runner. Look, he didn’t want to see you in your suit before the ceremony, but he told me to give you this.”

  
Zosia proceeded to take a black box out of her handbag that was nearby, it was a bit larger than the box that held Dom’s ring when Lofty proposed. Dom took the box out of her hands and opened it; inside was something he’d seen before, but it had been altered.

  
“Arthur’s medal…” muttered Dom as he took it carefully out of the box, he traced his thumb over the metal crest and the fabric clip, Dom was quick to notice it had been restored to its former glory, it was as if Isaac had never broken it.

  
“Lofty found it, he had it fixed.”

  
“I’d wondered where it’d gone. I’d assumed it was in a box from when I had to pack stuff up so Lofty could move in with me…”

  
“He said even though it’s not as good as Arthur actually being here, he could still help walk you down the aisle like this.”

  
Dom kept tears back. He refused to cry on his wedding day. But the tears were very tempting. He swallowed the hard lump in his throat and smiled; silently he asked Zosia to pin the medal one his suit and Zosia did so:

  
“He would be so proud of you Dom, everything you’ve achieved and become, how much you’ve grown.”

  
“I know.” smiled Dom as Zosia finished pinning the medal to his suit.

  
Meanwhile, a few hallways away from Dom’s room, Lofty paced back and forth in his room; Dylan stood near him on the phone to Robyn:

  
“Robyn- Robyn, no… No, he doesn’t look like Tom Hanks with a bad perm. He looks nice. Yes, his hair dried off well. I’ve sorted everything, all we have to do is have him wait for Dom at the top of the aisle. Alright, alright, we’ll see you and Charlotte later.” Dylan eventually ended the call and closed his phone “You’d think it was her own wedding the way she panics.”

  
“ _I’m_ panicking Dylan.” exclaimed Lofty, “What if the medal was a step too far, what if he sees it as insensitive? What if he wanted to keep it damaged?”

  
“Why on Earth would he want to keep his best friend’s medal _broken,_ Ben?”

  
“I don’t know! I don’t know but it’s still a possibility – what if he ends up hating me for it-”

  
“Ben calm down. If you don’t, I’m prepared to slap you.”

  
“Please don’t.”

  
“Then calm down.”

  
“Right. Right, you’re right.” replied Lofty. He stopped himself from pacing and sat himself down at the edge of the bed that was in the room, “I’m calm, I’m calm.” he told himself over and over.

  
“Good. You’re not getting cold feet, are you?”

  
“What? No! Of course not! I’ve been waiting months for this, I’ve been wanting this ever since I knew I love him.”

  
“Right. Then why are you nervous?”

  
“I… I just want everything perfect today. It’s the least he deserves.”

  
“And it’ll be perfect. As long as you let it, it’ll go perfectly.” replied Dylan, he saw the groom-to-be was in his own world so made his way over to him and squatted down to his  
level at the bed, “Ben. Listen to me. I know full well what happened in the past: the nurse, Alice and Lenny, I know. But if I thought Dom could do better I’d’ve told him to stay away from you and never come back. You make him happy, he makes you happy. He’s not going anywhere - he loves you too much to leave.”

  
“Thanks Dylan...”

  
As Lofty finished his sentence, the door knocked, Dylan shouted for whoever was knocking to come in, and in entered a worker:

  
“Excuse me sirs, it’s time for the groom to go down.”

  
Lofty looked at the worker and then at Dylan, “I’m ready.”

 

                                       ------------------------------------------

 

As all this took place, a car sat outside the manor house with its owners still inside, unmoving from their driver and passenger seats. They were a man and a woman, a couple, and couldn’t be older than their late 50’s. The woman was rather small in height, with shoulder length blond and wavy hair framing her face; she’d done a rather good job of her makeup and she was wearing a cocktail dress, black and white with a sort of alternating pattern on it that was actually rather suiting to her. In an odd way, the whole ensemble of her outfit made her look like an old movie star – needless to say she was pretty. The man was quite a bit taller, just a little over 6ft; his face was strong yet tired looking, making him look older than he actually was. He had heavy set bags under his eyes and stress lines etched into his face like they’d been drawn on, but his slicked back straight hair and fine charcoal grey suit still had him looking respectable and (in some ways) handsome. Despite each of their fine outfits and the fact they were at a wedding, neither were smiling happily or looking excited for the ceremony – in fact – they looked uncomfortable. The woman took out her phone and checked the information she’d saved to her calendar.

  
“It’s definitely today, Arthur.” she said before promptly shoving her phone back into her small purse.

  
“Well we can’t be having that, can we?” Arthur sighed, his voice gruff, sounding as if he was more than used to smoking at least 20 cigarettes a day.

  
“When will we go inside?”

  
“Soon, love, we’ll go in soon.” replied the man as he took a hold of his wife’s hand, “We can’t let him do this, once we stop him, he’ll know he’s making a mistake.”

 

                                           ------------------------------------------

 

Fifteen minutes later Lofty was stood at the top of the aisle, waiting for Dom, Dylan stood nearby ring in hand (Zosia had hold of the other one). Lofty looked out into the congregation and saw Dom’s friends and family, every so often he spotted someone from E.D grinning ear to ear. His heart was fluttering with nerves, but that feeling was soon drowned out with excitement as the wedding march struck up and he could see Dom stood at the bottom of the aisle with Carole (who was walking him up and giving him away to Lofty).

  
All eyes were on Dom as he walked down with Carole, she was practically sobbing tears of joy as she walked him down, relief washing through her as she refused to think _“What if it was Isaac?”_ \- no, her boy was happy and in love, and that was all that mattered. Lofty felt his heart stop as he saw Dom in his suit, it was a similar colour as his own, but the cut was different and a lighter hue of blue – it was Dom, and he looked good in everything. Dom saw Lofty and smiled, it was almost odd seeing him in a three-piece suit, but he certainly looked nice with his curly hair and massive grin. As Carole and Dom made their way down the aisle, Lofty walked over to take Dom from Carole. Dom’s mum gave her son a warm kiss on the cheek before speaking to Lofty, holding him in a tight hug as she did so:

  
“Thank you, for bringing my Darren back.”

  
“It was all him,” smiled Lofty, “I’m just happy I’ve been here to see it.”

  
With that Lofty took Dom by the arm and walked him up to where the officiating Judge stood at the top of the aisle. Carole took a seat at the front of the congregation next to Sacha, they shared an endearing look with one another before returning their focus’ to the ceremony. The judge cleared his throat and straightened his uniform before speaking loudly to the whole room:

  
“We are gathered here today, to celebrate the love between two people and join them together in marriage. We are here to show support and love for their relationship and promise to help them when guidance is needed, we are here not just as witnesses, but as friends.” The Judge allowed these words to settle in the room before speaking again, he continued to talk about the importance and rarity of love and how two people are fated to one another before eventually continuing to the next major part of the ceremony, “Dominic and Benjamin are here to celebrate the love they have, I am aware the pair of them each have vows prepared?” Dom and Lofty nodded their heads in agreement, “Very good, I’m sure the rest of us would love to hear them, shall we start with you Ben?”

  
“Right, of course,” agreed Lofty, he cleared his throat before speaking, “Dom. We’ve known each other for nearly two years, and in that time you’ve sent me one a roller coaster of emotions I didn’t think existed.” This received a chuckle from both Dominic and the audience so he kept going, “I thought I’d lost every right to fall in love, to be happy, I thought I lost that, so when I found it in you I was so… terrified? But, excited all at the same time. You make me feel like being in love isn’t as selfish as I used to think it was, and even when you use my mugs to make coffee and end up staining them, even when you accidentally set your alarm too early, even when I feel you could do so much better than me… You’ll always be my one and only, you’ll always be the one I’m hopelessly in love with. I love you so much Dom, and I hope I’ll be able to make you as happy in marriage as you already make me.”

  
Dom’s promise not to cry was well and truly out of the window by this point, his joy forming tears in his eyes, as Lofty finished his vows he had to wipe his face with the back of his hands. He laughed a little at his own crying, and looked right at Lofty, he almost forgot it was his turn for vows, “Damn, I told myself I wouldn’t cry,” he let out, “Okay, right, okay.” He looked directly at Lofty again, who was smiling at him, and immediately his ability to speak coherently returned: “Well Piglet, this is it! All that back and forth and hard work finally paid off. I know there’s a Hell of a lot more coming our way, trust me, but with everything we’ve already been through, words can’t express how excited I am for our future. When we first met, I wasn’t very nice, I fully admit to that. I didn’t think it was possible for someone so nice to exist and not have some ulterior motive, after what had happened, I felt completely broken - like I was in a million different pieces. But you were the one who picked all those pieces back up again, and you helped me put myself back together, and I’ll _never_ be able to thank you enough for that. Words can’t even express how much I’m in love with you, all I can really say is that you’re stuck with me for the rest of our lives, and I’m so proud and excited to get to call you my husband. ”

  
By this point everyone in the room was either crying or extremely soppy, even Jac Naylor had rested her head on Fletch’s shoulder; Essie and Sacha were holding hands as they saw their two close friends at the altar; Zosia looked at Dom and Lofty and saw how happy Arthur would’ve been and how well he would have gotten on with Lofty; Henrik sat at the back of the congregation and smiled to himself. During his speech Lofty had taken Dom by both hands and held them as the Registrar spoke, when he was done the two continued holding hands, smiling at each other; the Judge himself was so busy admiring the couple in front of him that he had to remind himself to continue the service:

  
“If the best man and best woman would like to pass the rings on.”

  
Zosia walked up and handed her ring to Dom, Dylan did the same and handed his to Lofty. Once this happened the Judge continued to speak, “And now, the moment I’m sure we’ve all been waiting for… Ben please repeat after me: With this ring.”

  
“With this ring.” repeated Lofty as he began sliding the wedding band one Dom’s finger.

  
“I show you my love and commitment.”

  
“I show you my love and commitment.” said Lofty, smiling as he looked directly at Dom.

  
“And that I will love you till the end of my days.”

  
“And that I will love you till the end of my days.” he finished speaking as he also finished sliding the ring to the base of Dom’s ring finger. The same process was repeated with Dominic and he too placed a wedding ring on Lofty’s finger, as he did so the pair looked happily at each other.

  
“Dominic Copeland do you take Benjamin Chiltern to be your lawfully wedded husband, and to love him, till death do you part and as long as you both shall live?”

  
Dom gave a soft and heartfelt look at Lofty before replying, “I do.”

  
“And do you Benjamin Chiltern take Dominic Copeland to be your lawfully wedded husband, and to love him, till death do you part and as long as you both shall live?”

  
“I-”

  
“We object!”

  
With a loud and collective gasp from the congregation, everyone turned their heads to see where and who the objection had come from. When they all saw a man and woman storm up the aisle towards the two grooms, no one had any idea who they were – except for Lofty. Dom had looked back at Lofty to tell him he didn’t recognise them, but before he could even get a word out he was struck dumb by Lofty’s reaction to them: he was as blank as a sheet of paper, his eyes wide and glued on the couple making their way towards him and Dom. Dom felt Lofty’s grip on his hand tighten a little as the older couple finally reached them at the top of the aisle; already Sacha was out of his seat to try and deal with it all, but with a silent gesture from Dom (not wanting to make the scene any bigger than it already was), he sat back down.

  
“Lofty…” Dom murmured, “Who are these people?”

  
But before Lofty could even answer the man was already speaking, “Benjamin, we can’t let you do this. We _won’t_ let you do this.”

  
“Get out, Arthur.” Lofty muttered, only just audible to the man and the woman stood near him, and of course Dom too.

  
“No, we aren’t leaving till you get in the car with us, we need to sort all this out.”

  
“I said get out.” Lofty repeated, the volume of his words still quiet, but the tone of his voice firmer.

  
“We just want you _home_ Benjamin, after everything that happened, we want to start again.” pleaded the woman as she took hold of her husband’s, Arthur’s, hand.

  
“Lofty, please tell me – who _are_ these people?” Dom asked, he thought he’d been rather quiet with his words, but apparently Arthur had heard him.

  
“We’re his parents.”

  
Dead silence.

  
The congregation of wedding-goers just sat there, shifting uncomfortably in their seats, nobody knew what to do or how to react, and it was painfully obvious that Lofty didn’t want his parents there given his reaction to their sudden and impromptu arrival. Sacha sat there looking at both Dom and Lofty, waiting for any signal for him to escort the couple out of the ceremony. Dom’s parents sat there just as confused as everyone else, Barry fixed his gaze on the couple that had interrupted the ceremony, and Carole focused on Dom and Lofty – she could see Lofty’s breathing was beginning to grow heavier as his body shook ever so slightly.

  
Was he shaking from anger? Or was it something much more?

  
“Arthur, Elizabeth, I’ll ask you one more time – please, leave.” pleaded Lofty, practically begging for them to go. It was growing more and more apparent to Dom just why he’d never seen Lofty’s parents at the hospital when Sheilagh had been admitted all that time ago.

  
“Just, come with us, we can talk-” began Elizabeth.

  
“I don’t want to talk!” exclaimed Lofty, finally reaching his boiling point, “I told you both close to a _decade_ ago I’m done being in contact with you, and you said the exact same thing! Why are you here?”

  
“We heard you were getting married.” stated Arthur Chiltern as he tried to take a few steps closer to Lofty.

  
“You- That’s why you’re here? Well, given our past and how you entered the room I can only assume it’s not to congratulate us.” Lofty glared at his parents. “Listen you can complain later, but can you just give us today?”

  
“This isn’t right Benjamin, and you know it. Whatever happened to that Alice girl we heard about? She was nice, and pretty and-”

  
“And a woman?” asked Lofty. Arthur immediately fell silent, and once he did so Dom began to realise why Lofty’s parents were so opposed to the wedding, “Seriously, you haven’t changed a bit.”

  
“We’re here to make this right Ben, we’re here to take you home – you’ll realise we saved you from this massive mistake eventually.” argued Arthur again – he seemed to be the more dominant of Lofty’s parents, with Elizabeth staying on the sidelines of the argument, almost as if she didn’t want to be there.

  
“Mistake?” repeated Lofty, anger fluttering in his eyes like flame, “ _Mistake_? This isn’t a mistake. The only mistake here is the fact either of you showed up! Just because you two are stuck too far in the past to change doesn’t mean I should give up what I love-”

  
“Don’t say you love him Ben-”  
 

“I love him, Arthur! I love him! And he doesn’t deserve any of this, I don’t deserve any of this. Just go!”  
 

“I thought kicking you out for all this all those years ago would change you for the better, I thought you’d realise the consequences of acting in this way! I thought you’d be better than this son.” yelled Arthur, his wife Elizabeth having to hold him back physically. It was apparent the scene was taking a toll on him as he began breathing heavily.  
 

“Lofty, what does he mean he kicked you out?” asked Dom, grabbing the cuff of Lofty’s suit as he did so.  
 

Lofty turned to look at Dom, pure apologetic guilt in his eyes as he spoke, “Before I went to work on E.D, they kicked me out. I told everyone it was because of partying, but the truth is a video of me had been posted of me kissing another man at a club, and my parents found it. So, they kicked me out.”  
 

This seemed to send shockwaves throughout the whole room, every guest from E.D was spellbound by Lofty’s words: Robyn’s jaw dropped, Dylan’s face stiffened, and his eyes locked onto Lofty’s parents in anger, and Charlie’s heart practically broke for his old friend. Sacha sat there, his fingers digging into his seat as he forced himself to sit down – he knew his own anger would get the best of him if he tried to intervene. How could Lofty Chiltern, one of the sweetest and clumsiest nurses in the hospital have such callous and cold parents? The whole scenario playing out in front of everyone didn’t seem real, not even to Lofty. Dom could see how upset Lofty was getting, and he refused to let his husband-to-be become a spectacle for any longer:  
 

“Lofty, come on, you don’t have to take this – we can go back to my room till they’re taken away.”  
 

Dom watched Lofty tear his eyes from his parents to turn back and meet his gaze, anger fading away to guilt  – no doubt he was already blaming himself for ruining the day.  
 

“I’m so sorry Dom… I didn’t invite them, I promise, I never wanted them here.”  
 

“I know, love, I know. Come on, we don’t have to take this.”  
 

Over the course of the whole confrontation, Barry Copeland had been sat in his seat quietly simmering away, and he was absolutely disgusted. As odd as it sounded, even to himself, he’d had somewhat of a revelation after Carole’s surgery: he’d nearly lost her without telling her just how much he loved her. And once he’d realised that, he’d soon realised he was also at risk of losing Dom without telling him how much he truly loved him too - he wasn’t getting any younger.. Barry had realised the way he’d treated his own son was wrong, and as much as Dom’s sexuality wasn’t something he was sure he could ever completely comprehend – he was sure it was something he could at least accept. So that’s what he did, he accepted it. And after accepting it, he discovered just how cruel he’d been, so seeing his son’s happiness being interrupted by the dismay of his fiancé’s homophobic parents had actually infuriated him. He saw his old self in Lofty’s parents and he hated it; there was no way he was going to let it continue any longer.  
 

“I can’t just sit here, Carole.” he stated as he got himself out of his chair and made his way over to the fight taking place at the top of the aisle. Carole tried to pull him and beg him back into his seat but to no avail, soon enough the majority of the congregation saw what he was doing and almost everyone assumed he was going to take the side of Lofty’s parents – even Dom. As he saw his father walk over Dom’s heart dropped to the pit of his stomach, a thousand words of what Barry would say in agreement with Arthur and Elizabeth filled him with dread. Which is why, when Barry eventually opened his mouth to speak, Dominic (and the whole congregation for that matter) was shell shocked:  
 

“I think it’s time the pair of you left.” Barry stated, placing a firm grip on Arthur’s shoulder.  
 

Arthur was quick to shove Barry hand off before saying “And who the Hell are you?”  
 

“I’m Barry, Barry Copeland. And you’re currently ruining my son’s wedding day. And, obviously, you’re ruining Benjamin’s day as well.”  
 

“And who are you to make a comment like that?” asked Arthur as he invaded Barry’s personal space and got near nose to nose with him. “He’s my son, not yours.”  
 

There was a long, long pause before Barry responded.  
 

“I used to be like you, you know,” he began before taking a quick glance as Dom, “so… so _blinded_ by my own wants and needs, I couldn’t see that I was hurting my own boy. I was hurting my son. And I do love him – but I didn’t show it in the right way. So I changed, and realised Dom should love whoever he wants, and the person he loves is Lofty. And your son is a fine young man-”  
 

“A fine young man who doesn’t realise the mistake he’s making!”  
 

“Oh, he realises what he’s doing, and he knows it’s not a mistake. I can see you’re the ring-leader here, you’ve just dragged your wife along for support – trust me I used to do the same with my Carole.” Barry continued, unshaken by Arthur. “Now, if you’re not willing to love your own son for what he is, I guess I’ll just have to take him as my own – which is good since the pair of them _will_ be getting married.”  
 

Arthur Chiltern could only stand there, unable to argue back against Barry’s words. Sweat glistened on his forehead slightly as he turned around to look at the whole congregation (every single one of them quite clearly hating him and Elizabeth) and then at Lofty. When he looked into his son’s eyes all he could see was hurt; Ben’s eyes were glossed over and already slightly red from holding back tears, his jaw was clenched, and he looked as if he may collapse at any moment. Dom was stood next to him, one arm gently wrapped around Lofty’s waist (almost in an effort to keep him standing) and glaring directly at Arthur. All at once Mr Chiltern felt every pair of eyes in the room on him, and after only a few seconds, realised it was time to leave.  
 

“We’re leaving.” he said as he grabbed Elizabeth by the wrist to drag her off with him. He looked at Lofty directly as he spoke again, “Don’t think I’ll ever call you my son again, Benjamin.”  
 

Lofty looked right back at Arthur for a moment, and eventually spoke. “Good,” he said, “because I never considered you my father.”  
 

With this Arthur walked away, hurt, but not exactly surprised by what his son had said. With Elizabeth following closely behind the pair of them stormed out of the ceremony the same way they stormed in and eventually they were gone (presumably to get in their car and never come back) – their plan had failed in the long run, but had created an uneasy and uncomfortable atmosphere for both the grooms and the guests. After they had left the room Lofty felt weak at the knees and near collapsed right there in front of everyone, the stress and anxiety of having argued with his parents (after having not even spoken to them for years) hitting him like a ton of bricks.  
 

“Dom, I- I don’t think I can stand. I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry.” he apologised as Dom helped him to his feet.  
 

“Don’t be daft, don’t apologise, you’ve done nothing...” Dom insisted as he began to help Lofty out of the ceremony room to his room. He briefly looked up to placate the congregation. “Um, guys I’m really sorry, but I’m not quite sure what’s happening. If you could just wait here for a bit whilst we try to calm down? Or maybe… Sacha would you get everyone to the reception hall?”  
 

“Of course.” agreed Sacha, immediately leaping out of his seat to direct everyone out of the ceremony hall.  
 

As all this went on, as Dom and Lofty headed to Dom’s room to calm down, both Elizabeth and Arthur were stood by their car – they were arguing. Elizabeth was quite obviously agreeing more with everyone else than her husband, much to Arthur’s dismay.  
 

“Arthur, he’s our _son_. You said we were going to talk to him before the ceremony not have it out with him during the vows!”  
 

“It was too late by the time we got in the building, it was now or never.”  
 

“You said we would make our case and leave.”  
 

“I said we were going to make our case and leave _with him_!”  
 

“All I wanted was my son back! I know I messed up in the past, Arthur, Sheilagh sure as Hell knows it. I don’t know if you care but did you see the way she looked at us from the crowd? I’m her daughter and she looked ready to have my guts for garters-”  
 

“For Christ’s sake Elizabeth, she’s an old woman! She won’t do anything.”  
 

“Benjamin is never going to forgive me… Oh my God he’s never going to forgive me…” panicked Elizabeth as she began pacing back and forth, “I can’t believe what just happened.”  
 

“You’re the one stressed? I did all the talking! I did all the talking for the both of us whilst you just stood there and said nothing-” began Arthur before stopping mid-sentence, he paused, an expression of confusion flashed across his face for a few seconds before it was replaced by one of pain. He leant against this car and clutched his hand to his chest, letting out a few noises of pain before collapsing onto the gravel driveway. Immediately Elizabeth was by his side trying to help, but soon enough she realised he needed a Doctor and rushed back inside the Manor to beg somebody, anybody, for help.  
 

As Elizabeth searched frantically for somebody to help her, Dom and Lofty were in the upper part of the manor house, in Dom’s Bridegroom Suite. Lofty sat on the edge of the bed, still shaken from the events that had unfolded. Dom had already given him a glass of water to drink, but Lofty had barely put the glass to his lips to drink from it. Dom stood a little way in front of him, resting on an old and polished wooden cabinet. Neither spoke, and both allowed the silence to do all the talking, at least for a while anyway. Dom didn’t know what to say, or do, he didn’t feel there was much he could do in terms of comfort. So, after a while of searching of the right thing to do, he sat himself on the edge of the bed next to Lofty, and soon enough he felt his fiancé rest his head on his shoulder.  
 

“I’m really sorry…” Lofty apologised.  
 

“If you say sorry again you’re going to be mistaken for Edward the Confessor.” joked Dom in an effort to try and make Lofty at least smile. It didn’t work.  
 

“I thought they were out of my life for good. We stopped contact years ago, not even an exchange of Christmas cards for crying out loud… I, I just don’t understand. Do they really hate me that much to try and ruin everything for me?”  
 

“What do you mean?”  
 

“Reception; got an award for best painting – they chose to yell at me for getting paint in my hair. Primary School; was told I was enthusiastic – they just told me I was too clumsy to know when to give up. Secondary school- Well, you get the idea.”  
 

“I think so, yeah.” Dom agreed as he gently placed his hand in Lofty’s.  
 

“I know that all seems small, but that’s all it was, all the time. Nothing ever seemed good enough for them, believe me I tried. But trying to show your successful businesswoman of a mother and your popular landlord father that you were a success wasn’t something I could do – not even when I became a nurse.”  
 

“What about Sheilagh?”  
 

“She was the only person who seemed to be proud. She seemed to keep everything I showed her from school that I did. If anyone was a good parent, it was her. She’s always been there when I needed her most. That’s why when she got so sick, I was so scared of letting go of her.”  
 

“I understand,” replied Dom, and truly he did. “I was the same with Arthur, so scared of having to say goodbye to him. But then after a while I realised I didn’t have to be so scared, because I found other people to lean on – granted some of those people weren’t actually good for me – but, I guess what I’m trying to tell you is, you can lean on me. We’re literally about to get married, so there’s nothing you can’t tell me, there isn’t anything you can say that would make me stop loving you.”  
 

“Well, not gonna lie, I don’t like the coffee you make.”  
 

“Except for that.”  
 

This seemed to help relax Lofty, he even let out a little laugh at the joke, his body slackened and relaxed as he and Dom just sat there. Dom eventually intertwined his fingers with Lofty’s, and the pair stayed like that – sat there on the edge of the bed holding hands. But like all good things, the good moment came to an end when Sacha burst through the unlocked bedroom door, unease clearly lining his face.  
 

“Lofty. It’s Arthur, he’s having a heart attack.”  
 

Within minutes both Dom and Lofty were out of the room and at the front of the manor house where Arthur lay unconscious on the floor with a hysterical Elizabeth next to him. A small crowd had gathered around the now less than popular pair, and an ambulance had already been called. Lofty pushed his way through the people (all of which had only just got outside themselves) and immediately began to perform CPR. It was truly a sight to see: a groom performing CPR on his homophobic father, covered in dust from the gravel driveway as his fiancé talked to the emergency respondent on a guest’s phone, all as the groom's hysterical mother cried uncontrollably besides them. Given the location of the venue it took a while for the ambulance to arrive, but when it did Arthur was immediately loaded onto the back of the vehicle; he was joined by his wife and the formidable Jac Naylor (who’d decided to be the one operating on him). Lofty agreed to take a car with Dom to the hospital rather than accompany his parents in the ambulance. Sacha drove the pair to the hospital in a car behind the ambulance. As Dom held Lofty’s hand in the backseat he could feel how much Lofty was shaking. Sacha decided against speaking, and the car was filled with the faint and subtle noises of music coming from the radio; Lofty attempted to distract himself by focusing on the lyrics, but when “Staying Alive” by the Bee Gees began to play, he told Sacha to turn the radio off altogether.  
 

Upon arrival to the hospital Lofty discovered that Arthur had already been wheeled off the ambulance and was on his way to Darwin to be cut open and treated by none other than Jac Naylor. Before they could even talk to the ambulance attendees, Dom and Lofty saw the vehicle rush off to go pick up another patient. The pair looked at each other, got out of the car, and decided to head into the hospital (leaving Sacha to find a parking space). Immediately they got onto the elevator and waited for it to reach Darwin ward. Lofty took a hold of Dom’s hand and squeezed it a little, and Dom squeezed back. Eventually the metal doors opened and the pair stepped out onto the ward, where a nurse immediately informed them of a woman dressed in formal attire crying in the staff room.  
 

“Elizabeth…” Lofty sighed, “Sorry, she’s my mother, she um- well she made an unexpected appearance at our wedding.” he explained before walking off to the staff room where, sure enough, he found Elizabeth doubled over in tears.  
 

She looked especially small, hunched over, shaking as she thought of the day’s events. It was a lot to take in, even if she was in the wrong – Lofty had to admit that seeing the man she loved collapse couldn’t have been easy for her. After a few seconds Elizabeth sensed she wasn’t alone and looked up to find her son standing in front of her. Within seconds she leapt out of her chair and rushed over to Lofty, promptly embracing him as she continued to cry. Lofty was more than shocked, clearly unsure of what to do, he looked at Dom and silently asked him for advice. With Dom unable to think of anything, Lofty eventually gave up and hugged Elizabeth back – although hesitantly. For the next half an hour Lofty felt like a rag doll as Elizabeth clung onto him tightly, with Dom having eventually decided to put the kettle on. They managed to stop Lofty’s mother from slowly crushing him by convincing her to let go and have a cup of tea. Holding the mug in her hands, she continued to cry a little (although, thankfully, not as heavily as she had been before), and Lofty took out the white handkerchief from his pocket and offered it to his mother. She took it and dabbed and wiped away any mascara that had run down her face. After a while of just watching Elizabeth try and collect herself while her tea turned cold, Lofty finally spoke:  
 

“You and me,” he began, directing his words at Elizabeth, “we need to talk.”  
 

“Yeah,” she agreed, “We really, really do.”  
 

“Would you like me to go?” Dom asked, not at all offended if that answer was yes.  
 

“I think so, yeah, sorry Dom. It’s just, it might be easier - there’s a lot we need to talk about, I think for Elizabeth’s sake it’d be easier if it was just the two of us.”  
 

“That’s fine, of course, I’ll go find Sacha – I’ll tell him we said thank you, and see if I can sort out the reception.”  
 

“Thanks, Dom,” Lofty said, a half smile on his face as his fiancé walked out of the staff room. “Oh, Dom?”  
 

“Yeah?”  
 

“I love you.”  
 

“And I love you too.” Dom replied, smiling back, “Right, I better leave you two to it.”  
 

With that Dom left the staff room and began making his way back down to the main entrance of the hospital, where he found Sacha sipping on a strong coffee at a table. When Sacha saw Dom leaving the elevator he jumped out of his seat and invited Dom to join him at the table, when Dom politely declined he decided to speak anyway.  
 

“What’s happened, is everything okay?”

   
“Lofty’s talking to his mum now, just them. Arthur’s still in theatre with Jac and I need to phone my parents and the Manor to see if they can do anything about the reception we won’t be using. Lofty’s shaken, to say the least.”  
 

“Understandably.”  
 

“But he knows where to find me when he needs me. In the meantime I’m gonna go and see what I can sort out – I can at least try and make sure there’s one less thing for him to worry about.”  
 

“Right, right, of course. Good plan. Do you want me to help with anything?”  
 

“No, it’s alright, I’ll sort what I can. If you hear anything from Barry and Carole can you let me know?”  
 

“Of course.”  
 

“Thank you.”  
 

Back in the Darwin staff room, Lofty and Elizabeth were still talking, so far they’d discussed things in a calm manner, but Lofty knew the next subject he was about to bring up may not go down well with his mother.  
 

“Elizabeth. I want you to explain why you and Arthur crashed the wedding. I want you to tell me the truth, or I’ll walk out of this staff room.”  
 

Elizabeth looked at her son for a while before replying. “It was Arthur’s idea. He promised me all we’d do was talk to you _before_ the ceremony. That’s the only reason I agreed to it. But then we arrived late, and the ceremony had already started when he dragged me into the hall with him. Benjamin, please believe me when I say this wasn’t my idea.”  
 

“It was all Arthur’s?”  
 

“Yes.”  
 

“And you didn’t try to stop him?”  
 

“No- I, I… No, I didn’t.”  


“You let Arthur crash the wedding, the wedding he didn’t want to happen because he doesn’t like who I love. You let him ruin my wedding day.” Lofty complained. When he saw Elizabeth was refusing to look at him due to her own guilt, he snapped a little, “Look at me Elizabeth! This was not your day to ruin, this was Dom’s day and mine and you let him _ruin it_.”  
 

Elizabeth was as silent as the grave. She couldn’t argue with him, there was nothing to argue, anything she said would be null and void.  
 

“You’ve always been like this. You always let him do what he wants. You let him kick me out, I _know_ it wasn’t something you were keen on, but you let him do it anyway. You know who’s always been there for me? Sheilagh. Ever since I first met her she showed more care to me than the pair of you ever did. I even lived with her at one point growing up and not once did you ask me to come home!”  
 

“I am so sorry, Benjamin… but I want you home _now_ , I want a second chance, please.”  
 

“I gave you a second chance nearly ten years ago when I first moved back into that house,” replied Lofty. He looked at his mother, as he did so he felt himself relax a little, and the tone of frustration in his voice was replaced by one of calm, “and I am not willing to give you a third.”  
 

As all this had happened, Dom had finished making phone calls and was already back on Darwin ward; having seen Lofty and Elizabeth still talking he decided not to go back into the staff room and made his way to the Nurse’s station where he found Fletch talking to Jac. The distinct smell of disinfectant that was once homely to Dom now only filled him with a sickening feeling of unease. He made his way over to the pair to talk to them, dressed in a three-piece suit, looking rather out of place.  
 

“Hey…” he began, “Is Arthur out of surgery yet?”  
 

“Yeah, he’s on ward, the surgery was a success – no complications.” replied Jac.  
 

“Thank you.” responded Dom, unsure if he should actually reply with something like: _“That’s good!”  
_  

Jac looked at Dom as she spoke again, “Look, I know this won’t actually do anything, but I just wanted to say I’m sorry about what happened today. You two, of all people, didn’t deserve that.”  
 

“I know. Thank you, Jac.”  
 

“You can sit with him, if you’d like. I don’t know if you’d actually want to sit near him, but it might be good revenge if you got to tell him he nearly died.”  
 

“Somehow I don’t think that’ll make up for what he did,” replied Dom, sadness in his voice, “I’ll go sit with him though, where is he?”  
 

With Lofty and Elizabeth still talking at this point, Dom was alone as he sat next to the still unconscious Arthur. For a long while he sat there in the visitor’s chair, answering countless texts and voicemails and other notifications his phone had received; occasionally he’d look over at Arthur to take a look at his monitor’s stats before going back to his phone. This carried on for nearly half an hour, so Dom was surprised to find Arthur stirring awake so soon from surgery; the old man coughed and wheezed a little as he stirred awake in his bed, his eyes roamed across the hospital walls and ceiling before he spotted Dominic sat in the chair next to him. Arthur’s eyes went wide as he realised who was sat next to him, but before he could even begin to complain Dom was already talking:  
 

“Don’t speak. I don’t want you to speak, I want you to listen.” said Dom, surprised with himself at how calm he actually sounded, “What you did today was completely out of order, and in all honesty, I despise you for it. But right now, I’m trying to be here for Lofty. Arthur, you have two choices, and I want you to think very carefully.”  
 

“Go on.” Arthur coughed, clearly struggling with fatigue and a dry throat.  
 

“You can either accept Lofty for who he is, and accept me as the man he is going to marry. Or, you can stay away, for Lofty’s sake, and never attempt contact with him again. I don’t know how willing he’ll be to actually forgive you – but you can try, and if you did that, I know he’d try too. There’s your options.”  
 

Arthur didn’t reply for a long long time, his eyes stony and cold gaze unbreaking from Dom, “I think you know what I’m going to say.”  
 

Dom quietly nodded before responding: “I do. And, my heart breaks for Lofty, knowing his own Dad isn’t going to love him for who he is.”  
 

“Dom.”  
 

It was Lofty, he must have finished talking to Elizabeth, Dom felt a little sick thinking about how much Lofty may have heard from their conversation. Dom stood up and greeted his fiance, giving him a hug before Lofty signalled for Dom to have a quiet word with him away from his dad. Dom did as asked returned to the staff room – where Elizabeth was nowhere in sight.  
 

“Lofty, where’s Elizabeth?”  
 

“She’s gone for a coffee I think, then she’ll be back up to see Arthur.”  
 

“How much did you hear back there?”  
 

“Enough.” replied Lofty, a sad smile on his face, “But it’s alright, I wasn’t expecting him to change – you said exactly what I would have. I told Elizabeth I was done giving the pair of them chances. They won’t be contacting me anymore.”  
 

“I’m really sorry…”  
 

“Don’t be, I’ll be fine-”  
 

“Darren?” called Carole, cutting their conversation short as she rushed over to her son, her arms open. Dom only just had time to open his arms in time to receive the hug. He and Carole held on to each other as she attempted to give words of comfort, but Dom couldn’t help but feel guilty – he had his parents - Lofty didn’t. After breaking away from the hug Dom saw Barry was stood there, next to Lofty, Dom made his way over to speak with his father.

   
“Dad.” he stated.  
 

“Darren,” Barry replied, “how is everything?”

   
“Not great.” Dom replied, everyone hearing the conversation completely aware of the understatement his reply was. But as soon as he’d said those words he embraced his father, which was something Barry hadn’t expected. “Thank you so much, for talking to them, for caring. You really helped us back there.”  
 

“Well, you’re my son,” answered Barry, “and as much as I made a lot of mistakes, I would like to prove to you I can be the Dad you deserve, if you’ll let me.”  
 

“Of course I will.” responded Dom, and as soon as he had, he felt his Father hug him back tightly. The pair remained like that for a few seconds before Barry eventually pulled away to speak.  
 

“Now, we have a surprise for you two.”  
 

“Is it a refund for the reception we won’t be using?” Dom joked.  
 

“Not quite Dazzle.” replied Carole, still in her usual bubbly tone, “Come on, I think you better follow us.”  
 

Neither Dom or Lofty had realised how long they’d been at the hospital for; when they’d first arrived  it was still light outside, but as the pair followed Barry and Carole up numerous flights of stairs they saw the sky had turned inky black with swirls of grey clouds – clearly Arthur had been in surgery longer than either of them had realised. Dom’s heart hurt a little as he thought of how he and Lofty would have already signed the wedding certificate and performed their first dance by now. He looked at Lofty, who seemed to know what was going on inside his head, and Dom saw he was thinking the exact same thing. Hand in hand they followed after Barry and Carole, higher and higher they went along the hospital building, and eventually they realised Dom’s parents were taking them to the rooftop. As the familiar yet somewhat sickly smell of disinfectant faded away closer the group got the roof, the more Dom and Lofty felt confused as to what was happening.  
 

“Mum, where are you taking us?”  
 

“All in good time Darren.” Carole answered, “Just… Wait and see.”  
 

Eventually, as promised, Barry and Carole’s surprised was revealed to the pair of them. When they reached the very top of the building they were stood in front of the rooftop fire exit, and Barry swung this door open to reveal the rooftop. Only it no longer looked like the concrete and grey landscape it had once been. Instead, the roof had been redecorated; leading from the fire exit door way a red carpet had been rolled out to make a makeshift aisle, along it lay scattered rose petals, and rows of metal folding chairs sat either side of it – each seat taken up by a small congregation. At the top of this red road there stood Zosia and Dylan either side of it, and the Judge from that same day at its very end.  
 

“W-What’s all this?” Dom asked, looking at Lofty to find him equally as dumbstruck.  
 

“Well, after what happened… We don’t want you wasting that Honeymoon flight of yours. I mean, if you’re gonna go on a Honeymoon you may as well make sure you’re married first.” said Carole, a humongous grin spread across her face.  
 

Both Dylan and Zosia walked up, still dressed in their nice attire (much like the rest of the congregation):   


“We’re going to need those rings back,” said Zosia, “to give them to you during the ceremony.”  
 

“And we have lint rollers,” stated Dylan as he revealed a pair of rollers he’d kept hidden behind his back, “Got to keep you looking your best, haven’t we?”  
 

“Is, is this really happening?” asked Lofty, smiling yet still struck dumb with surprise.  
 

“It very well is,” Barry smirked, “now, get down there so my son can marry you.” he said as both Dom and Lofty handed their wedding rings over to Zosia and Dylan.  
 

“Right, right of course – I guess I better go then!” agreed Lofty as he still tried to take in what was happening, “I’ll see you down there then!” he said to Dom before following Dylan to the front, where upon arrival Dylan immediately began to clean any dust of his suit using the lint roller.  
 

As Lofty stood at the front getting his suit cleaned up, Dom stayed stood with his parents as Zosia took her lint roller and removed any lint from his suit. As this happened Dom spoke to his parents:  
 

“How, how did you guys do all this?”  
 

“Well after what happened with- well, today,” began Barry, “we thought you deserved a happy ending.”  
 

Dom looked at his father for a long time and smiled, a genuine smile, not the type of smile he usually gave his father just to stop him complaining. He looked at Barry Copeland and saw a changed man; he wasn’t the same man who’d complained of his sexuality anymore, he wasn’t the man that started fights in karaoke rooms, he wasn’t any of that anymore – to Dom, for the first time in years, he saw his Dad.  
 

“Would… Would you give me away please?” he asked directly to Barry.  
 

“Aw, and now I’m just a useless mother who’ll cry!” exclaimed Carole, smiling despite her comment.  
 

“Sorry Mum, it’s just- I want to give Dad and me a fresh start – I thought this would be a good place to begin.”  
 

“I know Dazzle, I know, I was only pulling your leg!”  
 

“So,” Dom said, looking at Barry, “Would you? I mean, you don’t have to-”  
 

“Nothing would please me more than to walk you down that aisle.”  
 

“Go on, the pair of you,” Carole said as happy tears brimmed in her eyes, “if you take any longer it’ll be Lofty’s birthday by the time you get down there.”  
 

With those words Barry offered Dom his arm to link, Dom accepted, and Zosia saw this as her cue to head to the end of the aisle where Dylan and Lofty were already stood waiting. Once she did so, an idea came to her mind, and before Barry and Dom had begun walking down, she took out her phone and began to play ‘Here Comes the Bride’ through her speaker; Dom looked at her and smirked – clearly she’d remembered he’d done the same thing at her own wedding. The pair smiled at each other before Dom and Barry eventually began to make the walk down to where Lofty was stood with the Officiator. On his way down the aisle for the second time that day, Dom saw all the guests that sat in their seats: Sacha, Essie, Jac, Fletch, Bernie and Serena, Hanssen (sat quietly at the back like last time), Sheilagh and Carole in the front row; not to mention Lofty’s E.D friends like Robyn and Charlie. The congregation was slightly smaller than before, but that only seemed to make the moment more intimate, and the cool air that hung on the rooftop meant that nobody was either freezing or melting from the weather – everything was perfect, despite everything that had taken place just hours beforehand.  
 

When Dom and Barry made it to the bottom of the aisle, Lofty made his way over so Barry could give his son away, as the exchange took place Barry whispered in Lofty’s ear, “After everything that’s happened today, I just want you to know I consider you as much my son as Darren – you’re a fine young man who makes my son happy.”  
 

“Thank you sir…” replied Lofty, genuinely grateful, “That means a lot.”  
 

“Treat my boy right.”  
 

“Of course.” smiled Lofty, ”I wouldn’t have it any other way.”  
 

And with that Lofty took Dom by the hand and the pair walked up to where the Judge stood waiting – it was the same Judge from that morning, with nothing else to do he was more than able to reschedule the ceremony for a few hours later. He stood there, a big grin on his face, his nose and cheeks pink, it seemed he was just as happy to marry the couple to one another as Dom and Lofty were to finally get married. When the pair of them finally stood in front of him, Zosia stopped playing the wedding march from her phone and silence fell over the rooftop for a few moments. During this hush Dom and Lofty couldn’t stop themselves from muttering to one another:  
 

“I can’t believe this is happening.” Lofty muttered.  
 

“Oh my God I know.” agreed Dom before letting out a small laugh. “I didn’t think we had friends capable of such rom-com movie clichés.”  
 

“I’m glad we do though.”  
 

“Me too, definitely.”  
 

When Dom finished speaking the Judge cleared his throat to speak, “Ladies and Gentlemen, Nurses and Doctors, Surgeons and- Well you get the idea. I would like to thank you on behalf of the couple here in front of me for taking the time to witness the unitive ceremony of their marriage, for the _second_ time today.” The whole congregation chuckled at this before the Judge continued, “Well, what can I say about Benjamin and Dominic that I haven’t already? They’re a pair, a match, soulmates – if you were to believe such a thing. They’re in love, and together, we shall all see this be bonded through a legal binding. Now! If memory serves me right, Dominic and Benjamin have some words for one another? You may want to reword them given the circumstances.”  
 

Dominic gave a small nod before taking the initiative to make his speech first, although he planned on changing them up a bit (much like Lofty): “Lofty, they say a wedding day should be the most memorable day of your life, and given today, I can’t argue with that! I know what happened today was awful, and I know for a fact we’re going to be facing some challenges a head of us – but I can promise you I will always be there for you as much as you’ve been here for me. I’ve never looked at someone the way I look at you, I didn’t even think people like you existed, or at least – I believed I could never deserve or have someone to love like you. I love you so much, and I am so excited to get to call you my husband and grow old with you..”  
 

Dom looked at Lofty the whole time he made his speech, and as he’d spoken, tears had welled up in Lofty’s eyes; they hadn’t fallen, but they were close. He looked at Dom and smiled profusely as he used his thumb to wipe away the tears forming in his eyes before taking his term to speak: “Today has been complicated to say the least, and it was the last thing I expected. And I am so sorry about what took place today, but right here and right now – it’s a fresh start, not just for me, but for the both of us. And I can’t wait for you to have to deal with me constantly, for us to live our lives together, for us to just be together with nothing getting in the way. I know I’m not exactly perfect, and as we all saw today, I definitely have some baggage – but then again, we all do. But I promise to never let my past get in the way of us again, from now on, it’s just me and you and a lifetime together. The last wedding I went to was for my friend Max, and as some may remember, I stated I’d never properly been in love before; Dom, I feel so lucky and grateful to get to call you my husband, to say that you are the one I’ll always be in love with.”  
 

For the second time that day, the vows managed to get people crying or worked up again; Carole was practically a puddle in Barry’s arms as he held her, he continued to watch the ceremony, and had a faint smile on his face as he did so – he could see Dom was glowing. Sacha and Essie were holding each other hands tightly again as they watched their two good friends marry one another, Hanssen was smiling happily in the back row, and Donna was repeatedly dabbing under her eyes – still slightly jealous of the crazy hazy duvet days the pair had that she didn’t. Nothing could get in the way now, not a single thing.  
 

When the speeches were finished by the both of them, the Judge asked the pair to state their vows, exactly the same vows as that morning, the pair of them couldn’t seem to say them quickly enough as they both anticipated the inevitable. And after both had slide rings on each other’s fingers and made a promise of commitment and constant love, the Judge let out a happy sigh and spoke again:  
 

“It is with my greatest pleasure, that I now pronounce the pair of you Husband and, well, Husband! You may kiss one another!”  


And with that Lofty and Dominic did as the Judge suggested, with the confirmation that they were officially married to one another, the kiss they shared to seal it was sweet, but not over done. When they parted from the kiss, the pair turned to face the congregation only to see nearly everyone stood out of their seats clapping and cheering: Carole still crying as she did so; Dom looked at his father and saw him smiling, and smiled back as he saw how much Barry had changed for the better. After doing this Dom looked back at Lofty, and when Lofty returned the look the pair silently agreed to walk down the aisle; but were eventually stopped by Sheilagh – who’d gotten out of her seat to give her Grandson a tight hug.  
 

“Well done Piglet, that was absolutely wonderful, your Grandfather would have loved to have been here! I love you so _so_ much.” Sheilagh said, happy tears forming in her eyes as she realised just how grown up her little Grandson really was, “You’ve become a man, and I am proud to call you my grandchild.”  
 

“It’s all thanks to you.” Lofty stated, still hugging Sheilagh warmly, “Thank you, Gran, for raising me the way you did, I love you too.”  
 

With that Sheilagh and Lofty broke from their hug, and she allowed Lofty to continue down the aisle with his new husband. As she stood there and watched them leave the rooftop, tears falling down her face as she was joined by Sacha; he was all too familiar with watching his children grow up.  
 

“He’s not gone forever.” he said as he placed a gentle hand on Sheilagh’s shoulder.  
 

“It’s not that.”  
 

“What is it then?”  
 

“It’s… Oh, he’s all grown up now! I’m so old I can’t stand it.”  
 

Sacha let out a chuckle before talking again, “Well, I’m sure you might feel old, but I think you’ll feel a lot better about it once you’ve had a drink.”  
 

“Drink?”  
 

“We’re all heading to Albie’s – Dom and Lofty don’t know we have a mini reception set up there – of course there’s going to be drinks.”  
 

“Alcohol?”  
 

“Exclusively.”  
 

“Well,” began Sheilagh as a slightly devilish smirk arose on her face, “I’m sure I’ll feel youthful after one or two whiskeys – maybe five.”  
 

As Dom and Lofty had made their way down the staircase back onto the main wards and hallways of the building, they were stopped by Donna who not only congratulated them, but said they had to come to Albie’s for a few drinks; which they happily accepted. With everyone who’d attended the rooftop wedding following suit behind them, the large group exited the Hospital and made their way over to Albie’s, but when they all stepped inside Dom and Lofty were given another shock: the room had been redecorated for the fact they’d just been married. With the wedding cake sat on a table to itself, there were balloons and pale coloured bunting going about the room – it was similar to how Arthur and Morven’s reception had been with the colour lay out, with the addition of latex gloves having been inflated and pinned about the pub. In the furthest corner of the room there hung a large multi-coloured banner that read “Just hitched” alongside pictures of the newlyweds together on ward. Dom and Lofty looked around the room in awe; clearly their friends were extremely capable of making the impossible happen.  
 

“Who did all this?” Dom asked as he took him the whole room.  
 

“Sacha and Essie helped,” began Donna, “and me, and of course Sheilagh. But it was actually Barry and Carole’s idea since they’d found out we couldn’t have the reception back at the original venue. Oh, and everyone here chipped in to pay for it all, so you don’t have to worry about the bar bill or anything.”  
 

“This is amazing…” Lofty complimented as he took one of Dom’s hands and held it tightly. Donna left the pair to wander around the room to take everything in as she headed to the bar to grab drinks. As the pair looked around they saw a large table filled with wedding gifts, and immediately one of the gifts on the table caught Lofty’s eye: it was a single card, but the handwriting on it was familiar as it read his mother’s name – “Elizabeth Chiltern”. Dom saw this card as well, eventually, and watched as Lofty picked it up and opened it; it took a while for Lofty to read, but even when he’d finished, Dom couldn’t read what he was thinking.  
 

“What does it say?” he asked before Lofty showed him the contents of the card:  
   


_Benjamin,_

_I know you probably can’t stand me right now. And I don’t expect you to forgive me in anyway, what me and your father did was despicable. But I’m hoping this’ll help you out economically in the long run. Your father doesn’t know, but I’ve decided to pay off the Reception that you couldn’t go to – the one you should have had – We’ll be paying for it all. All you have to do is go on your Honeymoon and never think about it again, or us for that matter._

_I don’t expect this to fix everything, and I understand you may not even want to talk to me ever again but I hope it shows you that I do still care for you, and that I completely regret not stopping your father today – I was just too desperate to have you home and speak to you again after so long._

_You may not consider me a mother, but to me you’ll always be my son, have an amazing life with the man you fell in love with,_

_Elizabeth Chiltern._

 

After he finished reading the card, Dom looked at Lofty with wide eyes, unsure on how to react. He looked at Lofty and saw his husband staring at the wall in front of them, his eyes glossed over slightly, his face blank as Dom tried to see what he was thinking; eventually Lofty let out a sigh before bringing Dom in for a side hug. To Dom he sounded tired, yet relieved.  


“You okay?”  
 

“After what they put us through, I think them paying for the Reception is the least they owe us. Plus, ten years of unsettled business finally put to bed – I’m happy.” replied Lofty, Dom could tell he was telling the truth, and that was enough.  
 

“Okay.” Dom said with a smile, “Come on Husband, I think we have guests to see to.”  
 

“We do indeed!” smiled Lofty.  
 

For the rest of the night Elizabeth and Arthur were the last thing on everybody’s mind; once the official marriage registry form had been signed by the newly weds everyone went in to party mode. Serena and Bernie sat snuggled together on an armchair drinking Shiraz; Gretta and Jason sat with their toddler; Sacha had managed to get Essie out of her chair for a few rounds of dancing. The atmosphere was light and airy, and Dom saw Lofty’s mood lighten even more at the sight of his old E.D friends: Robyn, Charlie and Dylan.  
 

“Lofty!” Robyn cried as she made her way over to him with open arms (Charlie was carrying toddler Charlotte on his hip).  
 

“Robyn!” Lofty cried back, accepting her hug happily, “I saw you all at the rooftop.”  
 

“How could we miss your wedding?” Robyn asked, “Of course we were gonna be there.”  
 

“Well, thank you.”  
 

“Of course, I’ll always be here when you two need baby advice-”  
 

Dom and Lofty both seemed to jump a little at Robyn’s mention of babies, Dom decided to speak for the pair of them: “Well, I um- Yeah, I don’t think children are on the cards for a while yet.”  
 

With that Charlie introduced himself in the conversation, his face a little older than Lofty last remembered, “Lofty, congratulations.”  
 

“Thanks Charlie!” Lofty said with a smile, “Took all day, but it’s finally official.”  
 

“It is: Lofty Chiltern gets married – it’ll make front page news.” joked Charlie, which was met with laughter from Lofty, Dom and Robyn.  
 

“I must say, I’m not so surprised,” Dylan admitted as Lofty looked up from playing with Charlotte, “You always did have a stupidly big heart.”  
 

“I’ll take that as a compliment.” stated Lofty, smiling to see Dylan had never changed.  
 

“It was intended as such.”  
 

“You’re getting better with actually talking to people then?” Lofty asked.  
 

“No seemingly not, but there’s one or two exceptions.”  
 

“And I’m one of them?”  
 

“It would seem so.” agreed Dylan.  
 

“Well, could I push you for a hug?” asked Lofty, definitely taking a risky chance – Dylan really wasn’t one for human contact. He was positive Dylan would immediately would say no and walk off for a drink at the bar, so he was rather surprised by his actual response.  
 

“I suppose, but it’ll be my wedding present to you.” Dylan said, agreeing, and before Lofty could even comprehend what he’d said, he already had his arms wrapped around his old favourite nurse. Dr Keogh held Lofty in the hug for a few seconds before releasing him, “There – a hug.”  
 

“Thank you, Dylan.” Lofty said, a warm and genuine smile spread across his face.  
 

The rest of the Reception consisted of drunken dancing and karaoke, photographs, speeches and toasts, and many, many drinks. By the time the early hours of the morning woke up the next day, Dom and Lofty had only just finished cleaning up any mess left behind by the guests who’d either gone home or fallen asleep on the stools and chair and sofas in the bar. Sacha, who was still awake, had eventually told them to go home (saying he would ensure anyone still in the bar would get home in taxis); and with this the newly weds returned home to their flat. After unlocking the front door, the pair of them took off their suit jackets, leaving them on the arm of the couch as Lofty headed to the kitchen to grab two glasses of water. After doing so Lofty handed Dom one of the glasses, the pair were still stood up, and after they’d each taken a few sips from their glasses; they each put their drink down and hugged one another.  
 

“Today went unexpectedly.” Dom said, “But I wouldn’t have it any other way.”  
 

“As odd as it sounds, me too.” Lofty agreed, which was followed with a prompt, “Well, Mr Chiltern-Copeland, I think we need to go to bed.” as he detached himself from the hug.  
 

“Oh yeah?”  
 

“We have a flight to catch tomorrow evening.”  
 

“This evening, actually.” Dom smirked, “It’s three in the morning.”  
 

Lofty checked the watch on his wrist, “Oh wow it is, I haven’t stayed up that late in a while. Well we definitely need to go to bed, we have memories to make as soon as we land.”  
 

“Alright,” Dom agreed, “New memories in Paris deserve a good night’s sleep I suppose.”  
 

That night the pair went to sleep with a whirlwind of emotions: joy, relief, exhaustion but most importantly they were excited. They were excited for the four weeks in Paris where they’d get to do whatever they wanted; all the sightseeing they could manage, all the photos and drinks and tourist attractions. But they were excited for more than that; they were excited to spend the rest of their lives together, dealing with each problem that came their way with one another, jumping over each hurdle and appreciating every milestone they achieved. As they each fell asleep, their suitcases sat in the corner for when they’d wake up, they each looked forward to their four weeks in Paris as a married couple.  
 

The rest, they say, is history.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to all who set up and organised the Scrub-In!! It was fantastic! And i hope people who read this enjoy it!


End file.
